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Tim Ries' Rolling Stones Project

A A A Comments By Rick Mason Wednesday, Nov 7 2007

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The versatile Tim Ries is a serious jazz hound usually found wailing away on tenor or soprano sax. But he can handle all the woodwinds, as well as keyboards, and has played with artists running the gamut from jazz to pop, including Joe Henderson, Maria Schneider, Lyle Lovett, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder. As a composer he's dabbled with the intersection of jazz and classical, and has a handful of albums as a leader. But his highest profile gig has been as a member of the Rolling Stones' horn section, which led to his phenomenal 2005 album, The Rolling Stones Project (Concord), also the focus of these Dakota gigs. With a slew of high-profile guests—including four Stones—onboard, Ries vividly rearranged Stones classics in a broadly post-bop context. Among the highlights: an introspective duet with guitarist Bill Frisell on "Ruby Tuesday," a simmering "Honky Tonk Women" with organist Larry Goldings and Charlie Watts on drums, "Street Fighting Man" dancing on a sizzling base of Brazilian rhythms, a gorgeously lyrical "Wild Horses" with Frisell and singer/pianist Norah Jones. A second volume with a world-music focus is in the works. Ries's band will include fellow Stones sidemen Michael Davis (trombone) and Bernard Fowler (vocals), plus a trio of locals: drummer Kevin Washington, bassist Jeff Bailey, and guitarist Bill Bergman. Ries will also be a key participant in this year's Twin Cities Saxophone Day Saturday at McNally Smith College of Music. It'll be a daylong dose of nirvana for sax maniacs, with a variety of clinics, dealers, and technicians. Ries will conduct a clinic and perform, as will classical saxophonist Kurt Clausse, and the dynamic local sax quartet JAZZAX, consisting of formidable reedmen/educators Greg Keel, Michael Walk, Pete Whitman, and David Milne. Sitting in will be a fifth saxophonist, Clay Pufahl. 18+. $18 at 7:00 p.m.; $12 at 9:30 p.m.
Fridays, Saturdays. Starts: Nov. 9. Continues through Nov. 10, 2007